monasteries in Vigeois and Excideuil in Périgord and went on pilgrimages, always on foot. Every year he made a pilgrimage to Tours to celebrate the feast of Saint Martin of Tours. He would also travel annually to the Holy Cross Abbey in Poitiers to visit Queen Radegund. He supported the cult of Medardus of Soissons and probably built the church in his honour at Excideuil. Aredius built several churches in honour of saints whose relics he had collected. Hagiography and relics Miracle stories began to be associated with him. People in the area believed him to have the gift of healing. His hagiographer, Gregory of Tours, says they crowded to Aredius "like bees to a hive". On more than one occasion, he intervened with the Merovingian princes on behalf of the people regarding oppressive taxes. He was a friend of Gregory of Tours who wrote the most well-known accounts of Aredius' life. Gregory included Aredius in three of his works (sometimes known as , 'History of the Franks'), Lives of the Fathers and Glories of the Martyrs. Aredius bequeathed his wealth to, among other beneficiaries, the church of St Martin of Tours. The town of Saint-Yrieix-La-Perche has requested that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York return a reliquary of Aredius, which the town maintains was illegally purchased in 1906. Notes References Sources People from Limoges 510 births 591 deaths 6th-century Frankish saints